Bill Amerson

Who is Bill Amerson?

William Gordon Amerson is a former adult film industry pioneer, producer and actor in the late 1960s to the late 1980s.

Born in Los Angeles, Bill Amerson was one of the first adult film producers in the United States to produce so-called "hard core" entertainment. As reported in the award-winning documentary Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes, produced by filmmaker Cass Paley, "In these films we showed insertion. The sexual penetration and oral copulation. We actually showed it. People could not turn their money over fast enough [to see it]." To Amerson's surprise the market for this product was vastly larger than he had expected.

Amerson was also one of the early pioneers in the establishment of adult film industry to be able to ply its wares in accordance with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. In the early days of hard core, Amerson and his colleagues were subject to arrest for any number of charges which could include pimping, pandering, and an obscure felony called "conspiracy to commit oral copulation". Ultimately courts established the legality of adult film production.

While Amerson's name may seem unfamiliar, his friend, John Curtis Holmes, was the premiere hard core film star from 1973 until 1988. Amerson was John Holmes' business manager after Holmes' arrest in 1981 for murder.